I was all set to put together an extensive analysis of the impact of Christmas music this past fall, based on my sense that holiday programming was a huge factor in the Fall ’06 book. Then Inside Radio’s Mike Kinosian beat me to it, with a report that goes far beyond what I was planning on doing. Mike has graciously allowed us to distribute the report to Jacobs Media clients, as well as post it on our website.

Mike has looked at this issue every which-way, so it will be easy for you to look at your market, in context with the rest of the country.

Was this a bigger Christmas for stations that focused on holiday music this past fall? As Mike’s analysis points out, it’s a mixed bag. But something to focus on is that his numbers are based on the entire book – not just December. Clearly, some Christmas music stations likely had so-so October/November months, but exploded in the final phase.

How does Christmas music impact Rock stations? We know from past web polls that while women are most enamored with this programming, many men go along with their significant others’ radio choices. However, we have also gotten the strong sense in focus groups that we conduct around the holidays that many guys simply enjoy this programming as an alternative to the usual, and to get them into the spirit of the holidays.

Since the Christmas of 2001, the all-Christmas music phenomenon has become even more powerful. Perhaps this past year gave it even more resonance, as the country is mired in an unpopular war, and there’s more uncertainty over just about everything. As celebrity dirt has become something of a fantasy escape from the harsh reality of the hard news of the day, Christmas music often serves as audio comfort food, allowing people to curl up in a sort of musical fetal position.

All of this continues to create serious challenges for Rock formats, already suffering under a variety of impediments, from "cell phone onlies" to mediocre new music to listeners who are becoming more and more comfortable with new technology.